• jhbadger 14 hours ago

    Elise Blackwell wrote "Hunger", a novel about these botanists, which I thought was well done.

    • bfelbo 3 days ago

      We might need to preserve seeds again due to climate change. Impressive to read about those who literally sacrificed their life during a siege for science and the future of humanity. Thanks for sharing.

      • martyvis an hour ago

        There is a wonderful plant bank here in Sydney, Australia. Lots of thick mud walls and other sophistications to outlast weather and similar incidents. https://www.botanicgardens.org.au/our-science/science-facili...

        • Etheryte 13 hours ago

          There are multiple national and international initiatives that have been building seed banks for a long time, what do you mean with the again?

          • mmooss 11 hours ago

            Also, there's talk of putting one on the moon.

            • Arch-TK 10 hours ago

              Don't seed banks need regular refreshing?

              • throwup238 7 hours ago

                Ideally yes but scientists have grown crops from single seeds that are thousands of years old so as long as the facilities passively maintain a low temperature, many of them will be viable for a very long time.

                • lukan 7 hours ago

                  " as long as the facilities passively maintain a low temperature"

                  And remain dry.

                  • whythre 5 hours ago

                    Shouldn’t be a problem on the moon.

          • vbezhenar 13 hours ago

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

            After nuclear war I'm going to head there.

        • erie 3 hours ago

          There is also a more recent one in Syria :"How Seeds from War-Torn Syria Could Help Save American Wheat - May 14, 2018 https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-seeds-from-war-torn-syria... And another take on it here: How Syrians Saved an Ancient Seedbank From Civil War When civil war broke out in Syria, Ahmed Amri immediately thought about seeds. Specifically, 141,000 packets of them sitting in cold storage 19 miles south of Aleppo. https://www.wired.com/2015/04/syrians-saved-ancient-seedbank...

          • dylan604 14 hours ago

            Cosmos with Neil Degrasse Tyson also did an episode on this:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaqVg6BXXtA

            • unlog 13 hours ago

              > The uploader has not made this video available in your country

              We really need a civilization changing event to rethink some stuff.

              • teddyh 13 hours ago

                <magnet:?xt=urn:btih:2650E9B1E36E713DD78BAFC638408A491854B839>

            • lofaszvanitt 7 hours ago

              What kind of cabbage is that? I mean look at their size.

              • yeetusus 12 hours ago

                see: Lysenkoism

                • AcerbicZero 12 hours ago

                  Trying to do science in the soviet union certainly provided plenty of unrequested opportunities to become a hero, thats for sure.

                  • sedan_baklazhan 5 hours ago

                    I doubt you will ever understand what the siege was really like, while you are making fun of it. Is it really that fun?

                    • FpUser 11 hours ago

                      Can't pass that lying dog without kicking?